Great news: None of six at-risk US embassies followed full vetting procedure for security personnel

posted at 3:41 pm on June 13, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

The lack of sufficient vetting for security at the Benghazi consulate turns out to be the rule rather than the exception in the Hillary Clinton-run State Department. After the sacking of the facility in which security contractors fled from or possibly participated in the attack, State’s Inspector General conducted a review of six of the highest-risk US diplomatic facilities in the world. All six failed to follow requirements for vetting and oversight of security personnel:

A newly completed internal audit of security contracts at U.S. embassies abroad found that none of those examined had fully complied with vetting and other requirements for contractors who provide the first line of defense against attack.

The audit, to be released Friday by the State Department’s Inspector General, was conducted in the wake of the 2012 attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. Local guards contracted to secure the perimeter and entry to the diplomatic compound there were found to have fled or failed to perform their duties.

Of six embassies selected for review based on location and terrorism threat level, “none . . . fully performed all vetting requirements” for local guards, placing “embassies and personnel at risk,” the inspector general audit said. Chief diplomatic security officers at five of the six were said to have performed “inadequate oversight” of local guard vetting.

The performance of local security guards was a significant factor raised by the State Department’s Accountability Review Board examination of the Benghazi incident. The ARB report said that security dependence on a local Libyan militia and an inexperienced British-based firm that hired local guards was “misplaced.”

The IG inspections took place between March and September 2013, but the records checks go back to 2010. In most cases, records were either incomplete or nonexistent. One location employed a guard for months before discovering that he used multiple identities to hide his criminal record. At another, State paid more than a million dollars for wages to a contractor before finding out that the guards didn’t get paid at all — over a three-year period.

Between 1998 and 2012, there were at least 272 significant attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel, according to the report, including the deadly assault in Benghazi. A Senate intelligence committee found that during the months leading up to September 2012, a temporary mission facility in Benghazi had been vandalized and attacked by guards assigned to protect the outpost. …

This week’s release of Hillary Clinton‘s book “Hard Choices” also has fueled the debate. The former secretary of state wrote that she takes responsibility for the deaths in Benghazi, but she rebuked her critics, accusing them of politicizing the tragedy.

In an interview with ABC News that aired Monday, Mrs. Clinton fielded questions about whether she could have made the diplomatic compound in Benghazi safer.

Mrs. Clinton said she gave direct instructions to professionals with security expertise but that she was “not equipped to sit and look at blueprints, to determine where the blast walls need to be or where the reinforcements need to be.”

Nor is this the only IG report to which Hillary will have to respond. In April, a separate investigation showed that State had “misplaced” $6 billion, most of it during her tenure as Secretary of State:

The State Department misplaced and lost some $6 billion due to the improper filing of contracts during the past six years, mainly during the tenure of former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, according to a newly released Inspector General report.

The $6 billion in unaccounted funds poses a “significant financial risk and demonstrates a lack of internal control over the Department’s contract actions,” according to the report.

The alert, originally sent on March 20 and just released this week, warns that the missing contracting funds “could expose the department to substantial financial losses.”

The report centered on State Department contracts worth “more than $6 billion in which contract files were incomplete or could not be located at all,” according to the alert.

“The failure to maintain contract files adequately creates significant financial risk and demonstrates a lack of internal control over the Department’s contract actions,” the alert states.

The situation “creates conditions conducive to fraud, as corrupt individuals may attempt to conceal evidence of illicit behavior by omitting key documents from the contract file,” the report concluded.

That $6 billion might have come in handy for vetting security personnel, no? None of this adds up to an argument for putting Hillary Clinton in charge of the entire executive branch and national security. If the House select committee on Benghazi doesn’t take an interest in these IG reports, Democrats can be sure that Republicans will in other contexts. Whether these issues tie directly to Benghazi or not, they all still go to the claims of Hillary’s executive experience and competence, and make minced meat of them.

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So she isn’t very good at handling money or protecting those underneath her. She frequently lies to make herself look good and to deflect criticism and has no accomplishments in her life despite having unlimited opportunities. Why wouldn’t the democrats nominate her?

Do we know how many contractors are there and and/how many we’ll be able to evacuate in time? Are Hagel or Kerry talking about any of this at all? I know Obama is partying with his buds in Palm Springs so he’s checked out.

Great news: None of six at-risk US embassies followed full vetting procedure for security personnel

Shades of the Slick Willy administration. From what I heard, the Secret Service gave up on trying to vet all the weirdos that would show up at the White House because of lack of cooperation by the President and his staff on this issue.

NEW YORK – A U.S. contractor in Iraq told WND the Iraqi Air Force has begun evacuations from Balad Air Force Base, where 200 American contractors were trapped by the al-Qaida-inspired jihadists who have seized control of two cities and are now threatening Baghdad.

Frank Biggs, a contractor with Sallyport Global, told WND through a Skype instant message that he was transported from Balad to Baghdad and was communicating from a C-130 preparing to take off to Dubai.

Biggs said 300 in total have been evacuated from Balad and another 100 are still awaiting airlift. He said the Iraqi Air Force is trying to evacuate everyone by midnight local time.

WND previously reported Friday that private contractors who have recently returned to the U.S. from Iraq said their former colleagues effectively had been abandoned by the U.S. military and were fighting for their lives against an army of jihadists surrounding the base who belong to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

The U.S. contractors were at Balad to help the Pentagon prepare the facilities for the delivery of the F-16 aircraft the Obama administration has agreed to provide the Iraqi government.

The surrounded Americans said they were under ISIS fire from small arms, AK47s, and rocket propelled grenades, or RPGs.

The contractors had been able to hold the base, but those on the scene reported it was only a matter of time before the ISIS terrorists succeeded in breaking through the perimeter. The sources confirmed the contractors were still under siege, despite an Associated Press report Thursday, citing U.S. officials, that three planeloads of Americans were being evacuated from Balad.

WND learned from sources that the jihadists closed down escape routes, and the U.S. Air Force was in a stand-down position. U.S. forces were not assisting even with air cover so a private extradition flight could land for a rescue, the sources said.

Privately scheduled exit flights had fallen through, sources said, as several private pilots originally scheduled to make the flights quit.

The sources contended the U.S. military could provide the necessary air cover to protect C-130s or other air transport craft sufficient to make the evacuation, but far officials had refused to get involved.

Balad Air Force Base has been under attack since Wednesday, when ISIS rebels seized the nearby town of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein.

The attacking ISIS forces approached the base in trucks Wednesday and called through loudspeakers for all private security forces and Iraqi special military to leave immediately or die.

The U.S. private contractors in touch with WND reported that after hearing the broadcast, the private security forces and the Iraqi military defending the base dropped their weapons and ran.

The American contractors collected the weapons left behind and were able to hold off further immediate advances.

The audit, to be released Friday by the State Department’s Inspector General, was conducted in the wake of the 2012 attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. Local guards contracted to secure the perimeter and entry to the diplomatic compound there were found to have fled or failed to perform their duties.

From the link.

Does anyone find it odd that these IG audits are being conducted at all, let alone released? Why aren’t they being squelched? IRS, VA, now State…it’s weird. Why would the same admin that used the IRS to harass conservatives then turn around and release an IG report about it? Why would they let those investigations even happen? They can fire these guys at any time – no one in the MSM would blink (unlike when Bush fired 8 people and it was in the headlines for 2 years).

I used to work at the embassy in Baghdad. It’s security is horribly ineffective in a situation like this. There was a large contingent of Marines there when I left in 2006 but I doubt they are there now and even if they are they won’t be able to hold it. I won’t list the weaknesses on an open forum but I wrote a damning security report to PAE when I left.

None of this will get much play when 2016 comes around. The progressive left MSM will close ranks and by the time they get done building up Hillary it will be like God will be sitting on her right hand singing her eternal praises.

Dems in control of things and money gets “misplaced.” Where are all the trolls to tell us how great and wonderful Dem control of ANYTHING is better than the Pubs. And still no Senate budget plan after how many years? The list of things falling apart is growing by the day. No wonder Issa looks incompetent. He can’t keep up with all the boondoggles being generated by this corrupt administration.

Dem voters simply don’t care. Their gang is in power and as long as we have gay marriage and abortions, what difference does it make?

The State Department misplaced and lost some $6 billion due to the improper filing of contracts during the past six years, mainly during the tenure of former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, according to a newly released Inspector General report.

Remember when the left was outraged about the $6 Billion that Bush supposedly left around un-attended in Iraq and it was supposedly stolen. Remember the squeals of outrageous outrage and the gnashing of teeth and the multitudes of articles? And then in 2011….all was accounted for. And nary a peep.

Our govt cannot even protect itself, so how in the world can we expect them to protect us. Killary’s idea of foreign policy was explained as some guys out for a walk and deciding to shoot some Americans or Bergdahl’s desertion being like a drunken sailor falling off a ship or something. What difference does it make at this point. Bowe left base without being ordered to do so. Period. It matters to the military. Her performance as cinc will be way worse than the current cinc. This whole year has been like a crappy reality show. Meanwhile 2000 miles south of DC on the southern border…

Does anyone find it odd that these IG audits are being conducted at all, let alone released? Why aren’t they being squelched? IRS, VA, now State…it’s weird. Why would the same admin that used the IRS to harass conservatives then turn around and release an IG report about it? Why would they let those investigations even happen? They can fire these guys at any time – no one in the MSM would blink (unlike when Bush fired 8 people and it was in the headlines for 2 years).

Nor is this the only IG report to which Hillary will have to respond. In April, a separate investigation showed that State had “misplaced” $6 billion, most of it during her tenure as Secretary of State:

Little though it is, I know where about $100k is. It’s in Ronan Farrow’s possession.